Poco ma Buono

... translates to "small but good". For work, I've effectively memorized the ingredients to the perfect espresso, an essential drink that engenders several other espresso-based drinks, from cappuccino to macchiato. One 1-ounce (30ml) shot of espresso is produced in 25 seconds of brew time through 9 bars of pressure using 200ºF (93.3ºC) (ideally between 195ºF-202ºF (90.5ºC-94.4ºC)) water extracting the drink through a 7-9g puck of perfectly, finely ground coffee that has been tamped down with 20 pounds (9kg) of force.

Italians have simplified these basics through the 4 "M"s:

La Miscela (the bean)
La Macinazione (the grind)
La Macchina (the machine)
La Mano (the hand)

Makes sense since the espresso was first invented in Milano in 1901 by one Luigi Bezzera who came up with his "tipo gigante" in an attempt to shorten coffee breaks his employees took. He was successful in shortening brew time, but no one wanted to drink his coffee. He sold his patent to Desiderio Pavoni, who then went on to perfect the machine and it wasn't until 1947 that the first hand-actuated espresso machine was made. Traditionally, espresso is served in heated, half-sized cups known as demitasse (France) or tazzina (Italy).

Don't let fancy Italian names scare you from learning more about espresso and espresso-based drinks! They're all really quite simple. An espresso is 1 fluid ounce (30ml), but...

Ristretto = Less than 1 fluid ounce (less than 30ml)
Lungo = 2 fl oz (30ml)
Doppio = 2.5-3fl oz (75-90ml)
Romano = 1fl oz (30ml) espresso with a twist of lemon
Caffè corretto = 1 fl oz (30ml) espresso + 1fl oz (30ml) of grappa

Then there are the dairy/milk foam added drinks where milk (usually whole milk) is heated and frothed to 160F.

Macchiato = 1fl oz (30ml) espresso + milk foam
Espresso con panna = 1 fl oz (30ml) espresso topped with whipped cream and a sprinkling of cocoa 
Cappuccino = 1fl oz. (30ml) milk + 1 fl oz. (30ml)espresso + milk foam (Never drink after 10am in Italy!)
Latte (This is an American invention, if you order a "latte" in Italy, you'll get a cup of hot milk) = 2fl oz. (60ml) espresso + 8-10fl oz. (240-300ml) steamed milk + a little bit of foam on top
Café au lait = same thing as a latte minus the foam on top

Sadly, despite my very spoiled palate, I can't afford a $100+ espresso machine on my grad-student-budget... but I do have a French press (which is also great for brewing coffee, loose-leaf teas, and other infusions). You can't make a true espresso with a French press, but you can come to something that tastes... similar. For this you'd need:

16g coarsely ground coffee
10 fl oz (300ml) of water at 195ºF-200ºF

Pour the hot water over the ground coffee and allow to brew for 2-4 minutes then slowly push to infuse the "faux espresso".

 
Today's Random Picture:  

Zombie invasions, predictions of the Apocalypse, nosy neighbors: There are plenty of reasons to want to make your home a fortress. Polish architects KWK Promes designed the home, “Safe House,” to double as a maximum-security building. Mission very much accomplished -- the structure, located on the outskirts of Warsaw, Poland, has two modes: open, and closed-up tight from the outside world. No zombies allowed: This home is a cube of concrete and steel. (Photo: Aleksander Rutkowski/Robert Konieczny - KWK Promes)

Keeping You Awake with Coffee

Coffee... my love affair with coffee seems to continue on. Legend says that this drink was first discovered around 800BCE by an Ethiopian goat herder who notice that his goats became "excited" after eating berries from a mysterious shrub. Whether this compelled him to brew himself a cup of "coffee" from these berries may never be proven, but coffee is something that many people love and say can't live without. Ludwig van Beethoven supposedly brewed each cup of coffee with exactly 60 beans and Lloyd's of London started as a coffee house in 1668.

The only job that didn't conflict with my courses this semester was a job at a coffee shop. Hours are flexible and I am actually learning a lot about coffee, some basics I already knew, but the more detailed procedures of creating the perfect brew of coffee or perfect 30ml shot of espresso... these things I did not know. I decided I'd share my newly found information about coffee acquired while working as a barista. 

As most of you may already know, there are 2 types of coffee "beans" (which are not really beans at all but pits of a cherry-like fruit): robusta beans and arabica beans. 

Of these two varieties, robusta is basically the "low quality" version, (meaning lots of caffeine but no flavor). It's like cheap vodka or malt liquor of the coffee world: basically, avoid it. 

Arabica beans are what deliver high quality flavor, but depending on where they are grown, have distinct flavors of their own. Hm, if coffee beans were songs, then arabica coffee from Hawaii and Central America would be "Qualcosa di Grande", East African and Yemenite arabica beans would equate to "Symphony No. 5", and the flavor of beans from Indonesia or Sumatra is like "Flash Light".

The beans themselves can't produce flavor, they need to be roasted and flavors are released through pyrolysis. Since the beans themselves are different, different roasts are suitable for different beans and finding the "sweet spot", where the acidity, body, and flavor all balance into a perfect cup of Joe, that's pretty tricky.


Basically: the longer you roast, the darker the roast, the lower the caffeine:
Light City/Light or "Cinnamon" Roast - high in caffeine, but beans have not really gone through full pyrolysis
Medium or "City" Roast - Good roast to taste subtle differences in beans
Dark or Full City Roast - "Ideal" balance of flavor and body
Vienna/French/Very dark or "Espresso" Roast - trading in flavor for body
Italian Roast - low in caffeine, virtually no flavor of the actual bean is left since it's practically charcoal (ironically, most espresso in Italy are actually made with medium "city" or dark, "full city" roasts)

When brewing your cup of coffee, you should know that 30% of the bean is extractable, but only the first 20% tastes good and the last 10%... not so much since you'd extract all the bitterness of the coffee. The trick is to extract just the first 20% to have a delicious cup of coffee and not to go beyond to extract the bitterness. Controlling the brew time, grind size, proportion of coffee to water, and the water temperature are essentials to creating the perfect cup. 

Grind size depends on what machine you're using, whether you're using a manual, drip machine, French press, etc., grind size should be appropriate for each device (finer grinds for drip machines, coarser/larger grinds for a French press). When people say they don't like coffee because it tastes bitter or too strong, they often don't realize that they simply don't like over-extracted coffee. You need to have an ample amount of coffee grounds to prevent over-extraction, something people who say they don't like coffee don't do and instead use fewer grounds, which means more of the beans will be extracted = bitter taste. For each 6oz (177ml) cup of coffee, 2 tablespoons (5.6g) of ground coffee should be used. Thus 6oz. (177ml) of water : 2 tablespoons (5.6g) of ground coffee. The water should also be at a temperature just off the boil 190-205F (87.8 - 96.1C) for a total brew time of 4 to 5 minutes.


Follow these simple rules, and you can have coffee shop-quality coffee in the comfort of your own home!

Today's Random Picture: The Earth at night (click on image to see full picture)

Jettisoning Vices

Not quite sure when it started happening, but I know it's been at least a day since my heart has been hurting. It's like I'm "heartbroken", but literally. It's been over a week that I haven't had coffee. Yes, yes, believe or not but I am trying to quit coffee. My boyfriend, for those who've met him, smokes. I want him to quit. So we made a deal. I quit coffee and he quits smoking. In addition to coffee, I even agreed to quit drinking alcohol, making this deal a little unfair but still, I'm willing to hold true to my part. Our deal is quite good, actually. Neither is allowed to create another vice (i.e. I can't drinking Red Bull in the morning, he can't start chewing tobacco) otherwise that would defeat the whole purpose of jettisoning one vice only to trade in for another.

What is strange though, besides the initial withdrawal effects of caffeine (including headache, extra-groggy mornings, crankiness, short-tempered moments in the morning, etc.) I have an additional "side effect" from quitting coffee, painful heartbeats. Is it the coffee withdrawal? Is it because I'm stressed out and panicking on the inside (which I am for other reasons I don't feel like discussing) or is it because I'm anxious? I don't know. All I know is, coffee might have been a magical drink that kept me going. These days, I'm always tired, I doze off on the subway all the time and mornings are a little better than hell since I can barely lift my head up off the pillow. Not drinking hasn't given me any negative physical conditions but it has made my weekends banal - I stay home reading/studying instead of partying.

Have you guys ever tried to quit something and actually succeeding in doing so (indefinitely)? I don't know about you... but for me... whew... it's tough. The alcohol, I can manage with no problems but it's the lack of coffee that's killing me.

Today's Random Picture:
A little quiz for you guys. If you can read this, I'll give you $5. =)

Xanthine Alkaloid-Addict

This was the first question I could answer from the first clue on a random online test that Ty e-mailed me today:

Clue 1: I am a xanthine alkaloid compound that acts as a stimulant in humans.

What could it be? Caffeine, of course!!! I'm a caffeine-addict, I know what it is. Even though I've never done hard drugs, nor have I ever smoked tobacco, I got a rating as a "Social User"

NameThatDrug.com - The Drug Test

Actually, I met a Ukrainian drug dealer recently through a friend of mine so I guess I have easy access to drugs. It's just that, drugs never really interested me. There are so many other ways to get "high" that doesn't involve altering your state of consciousness. I think drinking alcohol is good enough when it comes to drug usage. Besides, crazy as I am, I still don't want to go to jail =)

Today's Random Picture:
I wonder... was this runner on drugs??? Or maybe he just had a severe case of diarrhea. Ew... so gross... I feel kind of bad for him, though...